Friday was really fun. We went on a hop-on hop-off bus tour. The idea being that you can ride the bus around while it tells you all about what you're seeing and you can get off to take a closer look whenever you want. (That is as long as the bus has stopped, of course). It was nice to be able to sit down and see London unfold as we drove by. It was really nice to not have to focus on navigating and trying to remember how to get places. Instead I could just relax and take mental notes of what sites I was going to have to come back to. As I predicted, it was a perfect reminder of why I came to study in this fabulous city in the first place.
After riding the bus for a while, we got off and took a short cruise on the River Thames. That was fun because last time I was here we didn't get to spend a lot of time down by the river. We got off at the Tower of London and spent a couple hours there. We saw the awe-inspiring crown jewels and the goose-bump inspiring scaffold site where people such as Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey were beheaded. I love being able to stand in one particular spot and say to myself (or anyone who is listening) "Anne Boleyn walked here. In this spot. She was here." It's such an epic feeling!
Honestly, I think my favorite part of the Tower is the Ravens. The legend says that when they fly away from Tower, the Kingdom of England will collapse. Well it's just a silly tradition, right? The British take their superstitions pretty seriously: the ravens wings are clipped and some of them live in cages. That way they can never leave and the Kingdom is safe. Hah.
I'm sure this will come as no surprise to most of you who know me, but at the Tower of London I somehow received a bit of a reputation for knowing what I was talking about... and therefore became somewhat of a tour guide/question answerer. You know, I'm really not very good at hiding my personality or thoughts (in most situations...). It was fun to be able to discuss with the girls I was with the stories behind the places we were visiting. I told them to tell me if I was getting annoying, but no one spoke up. Yet.
Saturday we got up and followed one of our teachers to Portobello Road. I was certainly a fan! Although the song from Bedknobs and Broomsticks was stuck in my head pretty much the entire morning, I thought the market was really cool. There was everything from obvious touristy trinkets to scarves, jewelry, lots and lots of flatware and teapots, books and even clothes. I could have spent all day there and still not seen everything. I ended up purchasing two new scarves for myself and a few other things that I can't tell you about... they may or may not end up as souvenirs for readers of this very blog! Hah.
After lunch we headed down to the Museum of London. I hadn't been there before and it was an interesting place. They were undergoing renovations, so it was smaller than I expected, but I could tell they had redone a lot of it recently, so it was really snazzy. My favorite part was Oliver Cromwell's death mask. The idea that someone took his head (which at that point was no longer attached to the rest of him...) made a plaster mold and now it's on display almost 400 years later. That is amazing. That, my friends, is the glory of history.
Tomorrow's events look to be exciting as well. I am going to Mass with some of the girls here and then we're going to have a picnic in Hyde Park. I'm really excited about our picnic because I think it will time to chill that doesn't involve me sitting in my flat. I hope to spend some time with my journal and a book or two. It should be a loverly afternoon.
I'm pretty sure this is way longer than anyone wants to read... which is another reason I shouldn't be a blogger. But anyway, thanks for reading this. And thanks again for all your prayers and support. These last few days have been great and I know prayers are helping.
Until next time.
Cheers!
_Kt
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